Friday, September 30, 2011

Posturing politicians spew endless nonsense like ham actors on stage at the local am-dram panto.

There's no better example than Caroline Flint. The slap my thigh, slightly attractive and eloquent actress, sorry politician, who Labour like to wheel out on to Question Time rather too frequently, ( she was on again last night ) presumably because she is without a speech impendiment and doesn't look like a dribbling teenager.( unlike the Sheriff of Dottingham - old Tunes advert reference ).

Anyway Princess Caroline launched into a classic vote seeker attack on landlords yesterday at the Labour Party Panto. Yawn, When are the ice creams coming out? I'll have a strawberry cornetto.

The shadow communities and local government secretary promised the audience that Labour would make sure the private rental sector would be "properly regulated" if Labour was re-elected and promised that they would stop landlords with tenants in sub-standard properties from receiving housing benefit. So we will all live happily ever after then?

She went on to say that every family renting would have "security and choice. Three cheers.

Princess Caroline didn't actually go on to explain how this would be done, (booooooo) but did spin around and slap her thigh on a number of occasions. (huurraaaay)

The party then went on to agree a motion to start "a programme of investment in quality new homes, which will provide employment, generate tax income, reduce homelessness and the cost of emergency accommodation and reduce expenditure on unemployment and housing benefits".

Seriously, why has nobody thought of that before? What a fantastic idea, I mean, wouldn't it be great to build some new houses and get some people jobs. Hurray!

Maybe they should of thought of that in their last panto season, I mean it did go on for 13 years and look what a cock up they made of that. Booooooo!

Sorry Labour, the people aren't behind you!

Going back to Question Time last night, did you hear the comment that not one of the Labour Shadow Cabinet had ever ran a business, however all had received glowing reviews in their university end of year productions, apparently Milliband's Richard the third was a triumph.

More tenants are struggling with their finances because of rising rents according to research from the Money Advice Trust.

They say they have recorded an 84 percent increase in telephone calls regarding rent arrears.

A spokesman said: "Many first time buyers cannot get a mortgage so demand for rented property have risen. But with landlords pushing up rents this has left some people struggling to meet bills, particularly as this has coincided with a rise in inflation, particularly of food and fuel costs."

Hurrah, it's almost here. The first taste of all our futures as the first mandatory licence scheme covering all landlords in the private residential rental sector is about to be introduced. Great!

Newham Council in East London have began a 10-week consultation on proposals to introduce a licensing scheme.

The scheme aims to check that every landlord can pass as a "fit and proper person", which may therefore involve all landlords having to have a Criminal Record Bureau check.

The licence will also require them to show that all gas and electrical installations meet regulations, they are issuing legal tenancy agreements, keeping up with repairs and managing any anti social behaviour from their tenants.

The landlord licence is expected to cost landlords £500.

So with Newhams 35,000 private tenancies it could generate a nice boost in revenue for the council at a time when the austerity measures are starting to hurt. Handy!

The council is hoping to get the landlord licence scheme up and running in time for the Olympics, and are hoping to be able commemorate it by issuing special gold medal licences that landlords can tie around their neck with red ribbon, or should that be red tape.

Gold! Comedy gold, what will councils look to do next to save their jobs!

How about a residents licence scheme involving CRB checks and a test to see if you are going to be able to manage the recycling of glass, plastic and cardboard correctly and that you bring your bins in within 12 hours of collection.

I've got to be honest I'd fail. It's just I always leave the tops on my plastic milk bottles and I know I shouldn't, but its the only way that I can stop them expanding in the recycling box and.......

An expert panel of mortgage brokers have predicted that buy-to-let mortgages could make up 25% of mortgage brokers business by 2015.

That's despite reports that lenders are pulling some of the best buy-to-let deals.

It seems that us landlords have got our pockets full of cash and we are keen to spend it on more property. Low interest rates, rising rents and cash in our pocket. Apart from having to deal with tenants oh Happy Days!Mortgage Search - BEST RATES

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Today's addition to PM3, our FREE Landlord's Software, is simple to describe. You may now delete addresses. Doing so deletes lots of related data as well - tenancies, values, loans and so forth. So use it with care! It will leave behind tenants, in case they are have tenancies on other addresses.

Below is a selection of the most popular buy-to-let mortgages currently available.

If you would like to discuss your requirements with a member of the support team please telephone 029 2069 5446 or you can submit a quick enquiry directly to the team by filling in our online enquiry form.

Max LTV

Initial Rate

Term

Completion fee

Booking fee

Incentives

Overall Cost for Comparison

80%

5.49% Fixed

Jan 31 2014

2.5%

£0

Refund of valuation to a maximum of £500 and free legals for remortgages only.

5.8% APR

80%

4.99% Disc.Tracker

2 Years

£2995

£0

Refund of valuation to a maximum of £500 and free legals for remortgages only.

5.7% APR

75%

3.74% Disc.Tracker

2 Years

£1999

£250

No

5.4% APR

75%

5.35% Fixed

Oct 31 2013

2%

£150

No

5.6% APR

70%

4.5% Disc.Tracker

2 Years

0%

£199

Free valuation up to £335 for purchases and remortgages and free legals on remortgages only.

6% APR

70%

3.99% Disc.Tracker

3 Years

£849

£150

No

5.7% APR

65%

3.99% Fixed

Sep 30 2013

£1295

£250

No

5.5% APR

65%

4.4% Tracker

2 Years

2%

£150

No

5.2% APR

60%

4.99% Fixed

2 Years

2.5%

£130

No

6.8% APR

60%

2.99% Fixed

Oct 30 2013

£2495

£250

No

5.2% APR

IMPORTANT! Due to current market conditions,
lenders are withdrawing and replacing products with little or
no notice.
Please check our website regularly to see the most up-to-date products available.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Property Sparrow has got her next eviction date through. It's her second this year and this time there's a long wait for it. She's read the Notice of Appointment four times already hoping to see that she's misread the date. But, no, it's not until 3 November. That's over two months since she applied for a warrant. Only one of the County Courts in London has closed and so she assumes that this delay is due to an increase in claimants. It's a long time for Property Sparrow to sit still.

I summarise the requirements brought in by the Housing Act 2004 regarding deposits and outline the requirements to invest the deposit, timescales and advise on where the deposit can be invested. I also discuss how to get the deposit back at the end of the tenancy. We will also highlight the pitfalls of failing to invest the deposit and the penalties the Court can impose.

I will advise you on when to end the tenancy and how and run through what Notices you need and when they need to be served. If your tenant does not vacate the property at the expiry of the Notice, you will need to issue Court proceedings. This seminar will also take you through the process of obtaining possession through the Court.

All seminars are held at our offices in North Notts, 10 mins drive from Jct 28, M1 motorway and charged at £15 per person. We also include a special session answering questions specific to your own issues at the end of the workshop.

These workshops will give you 1.5 hours of useful guidance from myself a Solicitor who is involved with these & issues on a day-to-day basis.

The economic doom circling the global news channels is starting to feel a touch worrying.

My left eye has developed a twitch and I've started to suck my thumb at night, like a big baby!

The reason is we just can't predict how bad things are going to get, nobody knows, and the economic lies that governments and banks have told us already may only be the start of it. We are talking BS, distraction and cover ups at the very top of global government, we don't know the truth yet. ( I love the drama of conspiracy theorists, don't you? )

Personally I'm not looking to increase my personal financial risk, uncertainty scares me, and I've been battening down the hatches, so to speak, over the past few years. I've done okay and I just don't want to end up losing it all.

I know many landlords have continued to invest, and good luck to them. With decent rent increases and low mortgage rates I can see the financial argument for it. But, I'm still nervous about gearing up any further.

I remember talking with a letting agent when I had bought one of my first rental properties. He thought that I was daft buying the house, saying that he predicted that prices were about to slump again.

It transpired that the guy had lost a £3 million pound property portfolio ten years earlier and was as highly strung as a rabbit in a field full of stoats when it came to property investment. My property subsequently tripled in value over the following years thanks to what turned out to be one of the UKs biggest ever property booms. However that's not to mock my letting agents extreme fear, it stemmed from an very real and painful personal experience and not from some illogical nervous condition, he had been badly hurt when economic conditions had moved suddenly against him.

I know we've seen a drop in capital values in some areas, but the ridiculously low interest rates have kept off any real injuries and rent increases have actually made things work out quite nicely for most landlords.

I have a sense that this won't last forever, so for now I will continue to sit in my burrow. like a scared little bunny.

For those landlords who continue to run around the field don't be surprised if a hawk doesn't swoop down and eat you up. Live today as if it is your last.

Now London landlords are in for a pounding! Apparently, it's our fault for rents shooting up in the capital and then having the temerity to try and get the best rents and tenant for our property. Outrageous!

Now the same tenants would never do the same if they had a property to sell or rent out would they!?

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Landlords from Yorkshire will be all familiar with expression "Wheres there muck there's brass!"

Well if you subscribe to this view maybe you want to check out the latest offering from Allsop.

It's a residential portfolio comprising of 15 properties in West & South Yorkshire. From the look of them they are no oil paintings and unlikely to win any architectural awards. However, they do generate a passing rent of £67,556 which could increase to £72,236 with a little bit of active management the agent thinks.

On these rental figures I reckon you may get the lot for around £700,000.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Our free Landlords software, Property Manager 3, aims to make your life easier. One simple thing we can do is let you enter lots of changes at once. We have a Rent Ticker, for instance, which lets you just tick off rents that have been received. Another popular request has been to add multiple expenses at once. We've just released that. Here's a screenshot to show it working.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

I knew it was too good to be true. Since the last lot of politicians were booted out landlords have managed to side step any extra legislation or taxation. The worst we've had so far is a barrage of FACTSHEETS from the Housing Minister Grant Shapps.

Dark clouds are now appearing on the horizon as the new lot of politicians route around for some good ideas to justify their existence.

The new one involves taxing landlords who leave their property empty. Now this causes me a little bit of a dilemma as it strikes at two of my own core long held beliefs. Firstly, that my property is my property and I should be able to do what the hell I want with it..a kind of libertarian doctrine. However, I also hate to see waste. I despair at the frivolous manner that modern society applies to scarce resources. So how do you square this?

An indecent proposal?

The Community Minister Andrew Stunell has outlined proposals to allow Councils to charge higher council tax rates to landlords owning property that has been empty for 2 years or more. On balance I think that I would have to give grudging support to this. Any landlord that fails to use such a precious resource as a property should be nudged into action.

However, I have one caveat to this grudging support is that it's not just private landlords that are targeted. What about the public sector who are responsible for many of the vacant 700,000 properties frequently quoted by politicians. I just ask for equal treatment for landlords in the private sector and the public sector. That's not too taxing a request surely?Landlord insurance - price beater portfolio rates

The free PM3 Software for Landlords now shows your tax position. Of course, this should be checked by your accountant in case we've got the rules wrong, so there's an Email button to send the information off.

On the front screen, there's a Tax button. We've used an image of a chain for the button, even though you're probably like us, and always pleased to pay your taxes. Schools and hospitals, that's what we say, schools and hospitals.

A landlord, Frank Hesketh bought a two-bedroomed property in Cemetery Road, Ribbleton, Preston, for £88,000 in 2007 with a £64,000 mortgage.

He then rented it out for £450 a month to a young family.

The tenants then left after falling out with Mr Hesketh over rent, but first they left him a few little gifts, including dog excrement in the oven, obscenities on the walls and ripped up floorboards. Many thanks.

Whilst he's been trying to sell it the house has been burgled a number of times, causing further damage. Just great!

Fly-tippers have also been dumping rubbish endlessly in the back yard. Sweet!

He considered auctioning the house off after attempts to sell it through an estate agent failed but was told it would only make around £50,000.

Mr Hesketh comments“I’ll probably have to make myself bankrupt.”

This sad tale reinforces the warnings we were giving back in 2007 about the risks of investing in certain areas, not just because of the risks of capital price falls in secondary areas but also the inherent risks of renting to tenants at the lower end of the rental market.

Below is a selection of the most popular buy-to-let mortgages currently available.

If you would like to discuss your requirements with a member of the support team please telephone 029 2069 5446 or you can submit a quick enquiry directly to the team by filling in our online enquiry form.

Max LTV

Initial Rate

Term

Completion fee

Booking fee

Incentives

Overall Cost for Comparison

80%

5.49% Fixed

Jan 31 2014

2.5%

£0

Refund of valuation to a maximum of £500 and free legals for remortgages only.

5.8% APR

80%

4.99% Disc.Tracker

2 Years

£2995

£0

Refund of valuation to a maximum of £500 and free legals for remortgages only.

5.7% APR

75%

5.35% Fixed

Oct 31 2013

2%

£150

No

5.6% APR

75%

3.74% Disc.Tracker

2 Years

£1999

£250

No

5.4% APR

70%

4.5% Disc.Tracker

2 Years

0%

£199

Free valuation up to £335 for purchases and remortgages and free legals on remortgages only.

6% APR

70%

3.99% Disc.Tracker

3 Years

£849

£150

No

5.7% APR

65%

3.99% Fixed

Sep 30 2013

£1295

£250

No

5.5% APR

65%

4.4% Tracker

2 Years

2%

£150

No

5.2% APR

60%

2.99% Fixed

Oct 30 2013

£2495

£250

No

5.2% APR

60%

4.5% Fixed

Dec 31 2012

0%

£295

Free valuation and free legals for remortgages only.

6.1% APR

IMPORTANT! Due to current market conditions,
lenders are withdrawing and replacing products with little or
no notice.
Please check our website regularly to see the most up-to-date products available.

Well it's been an interesting contrast in fortunes over several properties I'm currently trying to let.

One a 2 bed flat. Reasonably priced and in a good spot.

The other a double garage in exactly the same leafy suburban location.

To date I've had a couple of tentative enquiries about my flat and one viewing. Hardly a swarm of prospective tenants. In contrast from a single free advert in Gumtree I've been inundated with offers to rent my double garage with requirements ranging from storing a classic Ford Capri to somebody who wanted to use it to store equipment for a fledgling landscaping business. I even had one girl who appeared to be about to be evicted from a house boat and needed somewhere urgently to put her stuff.

I'm always wary about desperate tenants. Just like prospective tenants for my residential properties; I'd rather have stable and organised people. I have also shied away from people that are potentially moving house and want somewhere to unload their possession for a 'temporary' period. What happens if they suddenly decide that there 10 year old sofa isn't really worth lugging up to Scotland? You are left with it and they just simply stop paying rent. It's then your problem to get rid of it.

Parking opportunities

I've written before about the additional income that landlords can potentially earn from letting a garage or even a parking space. It makes me think that rather than buying or developing new buy to lets I should concentrate on investing in a block of garages or even building a few more in the extensive garden area I own.

Looks at the moment like garages not buy-to-lets are golden.Landlord insurance - professional rates

Monday, September 19, 2011

Our free software, Property Manager 3 (PM3 for short) highlights outstanding rent amounts. But a few users pointed out that, when they're far enough in the past, outstanding rents should be ignored. Otherwise they distract from the outstanding amounts that you should be trying to collect.

Our latest release of PM3 lets you choose a cut-off date, either 3, 6, 9 or 12 months in the past. Outstanding amounts from before that date are treated as "uncollected". We hope this improves matters. If not, our users will tell us what would be better.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

It looks like Barratts, the UK's biggest house builder is benefiting from the resurgence in demand from landlords adding to their buy-to-let portfolio. Remember Barratts? They were the builder who used to such dramatic effect a helicopter in their 70s & 80s TV ads. Wow we have move on haven't we.

Sales to investors which had been on the decline since 2007 dramatically reversed in the first 6 months of the year rising 25% on the same period last year.

Apparently, sales have been particularly strong in and around London where rents continue to surge.

It may not be a buy-to-let boom but Barratts results would suggest the investment market is at least buoyant.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

A nationwide tenant eviction firm used by a vast number of property owners, Landlord Assist, has recently announced its concern with regard to the chances of the UK seeing a rise in the number of squatters. This has come after a recent case where Camden Council had to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request by the Advisory Service for Squatters. There are now fears that more and more councils across the UK will be forced to release details of vacant properties.

Camden Council had to disclose a list of up to 530 council-managed and private homes that were left vacant at the time. This therefore raised fears about increasing numbers of squatters in the area.

Whilst Landlord Assist understands the need for regenerating empty properties, they now fear that the trend to regenerate empty properties, and therefore disclose details of empty properties, could lead to increasing numbers of squatters across the UK. An empty property, quite clearly, represents an easy opportunity to a potential squatter.

Stephen Parry, Commercial Director at Landlord Assist, has been quoted saying: “At Landlord Assist we regularly deal with many cases of squatters where landlords have had to go through the courts to retrieve their property and where neighbours have complained about anti-social behaviour, levels of noise and overcrowding.”

Many landlords can find themselves prone to squatters due to the fact that their property may be left empty during certain periods of the year. For example, if a landlord lets their properties to students, for the majority of the summer months they will have vacant properties. A comprehensive landlord insurance policy will be able to help protecting you; however, unoccupied property insurance may also be worth looking at for many landlords.

It has also been reported recently that the government is now considering making squatting a criminal offence. This has come after a number of high profile cases where multi-million pound homes in London were occupied without the owner giving consent. The squatters, when eventually discovered, were reported and told to leave the properties.

On the back of these recent cases, Ministers have published guidance and advice for householders in order to assist them in securing their property.

Some interesting data contained in a new book squashes many of the generally accepted myths on property investment.

Britain is a country of home owners and Europe are renters.

Property is a guaranteed good long term investment.

As regards myth 1 the book states that in 2009 the home
ownership rate in Spain was 85 per cent, 78 per cent in Belgium, 77 per
cent in Norway, 75 per cent in Ireland, 70 per cent in Australia, 69 per
cent in the UK, 67 per cent in the US and Canada, a still pretty high
57 per cent in France and a lower but still very sizeable 43 per cent in
Germany.

As for myth 2, according to data from the Barclays Equity Guilt Study, real house prices grew by 2.4 per cent a year between 1952-2010, against 6.9 per cent for equities.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

New data from Simply Business, the UK’s largest business and landlord insurance broker, suggests that tight budgets are hitting property maintenance by landlords, as the proportion of claims made for avoidable incidents such as leaks, burst pipes, frost damage and general wear and tear has increased by five per cent since 2008.

The data, taken from the claims of over 3,500 private landlords reveals that water damage is the biggest offender, with the number of claims increasing by 20 per cent since 2008. Water damage is also one of the most expensive problems to fix with the average cost of repair at £2,422 per incident.

Despite strong demand pushing rent rates to a record high*, the data suggests that increased overhead costs and fears about the ongoing stability of the UK financial market** mean landlords are scaling back on their short term costs and failing to proactively re-invest in the upkeep of their rental properties.

But with 3.4 million households now living in privately rented accommodation, it is essential that landlords foster good relationships with tenants and encourage them to report instances of damp or water leaks early as timely maintenance work can save on bigger pay outs later.

Landlords will be happy to hear that incidences of other claims have decreased, including accidental damage (down by 3 per cent), storm damage (down by 17 per cent) and theft (down by two per cent), although these are still amongst the most frequent problems.

Jason Stockwood, CEO, Simply Business, commented: “While insurance is crucial for landlords to ensure they can repair any unanticipated damage to the property, they must still maintain the property to a reasonable standard. Damage due to poor maintenance will not only disrupt current tenants and discourage future tenants but maintenance related claims are frequently not covered by insurance policies.

“With winter approaching, we would encourage landlords to check their properties are water tight and secure so they can withstand any heavy rain and cold spells. Otherwise they could be left with a hefty bill.”

Simply Business has released guidance for landlords on claims that are generally excluded from their insurance policies:

1. Frost damage as this is seen as a maintenance issue. A water tight building in good condition, should not allow water to get into the pipes or brick work, where it can then freeze, expand and cause damage over time. To avoid this happening, a regular maintenance programme should be implemented during the dry months.

2. Malicious damage by tenants is usually not covered on standard policies so landlords need to ensure they request this. Not to be confused with ‘Accidental Damage’, ‘Malicious Damage’ is the intentional physical damage to the property and would be considered a crime. Examples include vandalism, deliberate fire or theft of building fixtures. When claiming for this type of damage, the police need to be notified and a crime reference number must be submitted to the insurer or broker.

3. Un-occupancy: Most Insurance policies try to accommodate the common situation of a property sitting unoccupied between tenants, allowing 30 days before the insurance company needs to be notified of the change. Beyond the 30 days, some insurers may apply additional terms and restrictions until the new tenants move in, whilst others will not want the cover to continue at all. If the insurer is not notified that the property is unoccupied after the 30 days then it is considered a material change to the policy and any claim is unlikely to be covered.

4. Wear & Tear is the gradual deterioration of an object that takes place over time and is not classed as an insurable risk or event. It is the policyholders responsibility to maintain the condition of the property and keep it in a good state of repair.

5. Loss of Rent – If the landlord has agreed that the tenant shouldn’t pay rent because of damage to the property, but the property isn’t deemed uninhabitable then landlords cannot assume this will be covered. In order to claim for this the property must not be liveable for the tenants.

Landlords are seen as selfish, grabbing opportunistic bullies by 'joe public' surely this isn't the case. I mean landlords aren't really Ferrari driving thugs who take advantage of those in less privelaged positions?

Well, a Ferrari driving millionaire landlord has just been fined £650 by the Edinburgh courts having been found guilty of threatening to kick one of his tenants and warning him that “You go and find out who my
friends are, OK? Three of them have just been locked up for shooting
somebody.”

The landlord, Mark Fortune,( appropriate surname ) of Edinburgh, has already been stopped from
renting out four properties following threats and
verbal abuse of tenants and council officials.